Announcing the winners of our Olympic mascot contest

We put out a call for Olympic mascots and the community answered! With all sorts of characters; each representing something special about your country.

This contest was all about finding a way to incorporate meaning into a design, so the finalists were chosen for a combination of the design’s creativity and execution, as well as the unique cultural meaning the mascot displays.

Now, without further hesitation – the Awards Ceremony:

Gold Medal

Rossi’s design is based on the symbol of his homeland of Abruzzo, Italy – the Wolf. The mascot Wolfit hails from the Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo, a National Park dedicated to the preservation of his species, the Italian Wolf.

Wolfit is powerful and has a strong attitude, something any athlete needs. He’s also dressed to impress, highlighting one of Italy’s well-known cultural exports: fashion. Giulio was inspired by Giorgio Armani’s Olympic designs in creating Wolfit’s getup.

Silver Medal

Though native to the region, a lion has a lot a symbolic value in Bulgaria. You can find lions as the mascot of many Bulgarian sports teams, on the Bulgarian Coat of Arms and even in the outline of the country, if you squint a little 🙂

Aspar is named for historical Bulgarian ruler Asparukh and dressed in a bulgarian traditional costume that’s edited to suit an athlete.

Runners up for the podium

Marusya is a lot of things. She’s part polar bear, part siberian tiger and part squirrel; three animals native to her home county of Russia. Her name also speaks to her country of origin and was selected for its similarity to the phrase “My Russia.”

Mali Mujo dons the traditional clothing of his country, in the Olympic colors, to represent the cultural heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also bears the Olympic Torch in his right hand and the country’s flag in his left, showing his country’s Olympic spirit.

Tayo is a tarsier, an endangered species found in the Philippine Islands. He dons a gold necklace symbolizing the sun and 3 stars of the flag and the three main Philippine islands of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. His cape represents the other colors of the of the flag – blue, red, and white.

Tayo’s name has a double meaning, derived from the Tagalog expression for “We” or “Stand” so playing with the expression “We Stand.”

As the idealized Macedonian Olympic Competitor, this athlete can play basketball, javelin, and even run a marathon. But his speciality is shot put, as shown by the glove on his left hand. He represents the drive for gold of Macedonian athletes participating in the games.

Elko is based on a legendary Irish Elk, an extinct and gigantic species of Elk, representing strength. He’s styled on the celtic art of the ancient Book of Kells, and can run, jump and weightlift with the best of the Olympians.

We want to give a big thanks and a shout-out to all of the designers who participated in this contest – you guys are amazing!

What do you think of these Olympics mascots?

The author

Kaitlyn is part of the Community Team at 99designs.com. She grew up in Boulder, CO and went to school at Northwestern University in Chicago. When she's not blogging, she spends her time having adventures and being generally creative. She's all about having new experiences as often as possible!